Lets make a deal
by namelessDrifter
Summary: Dib summons the king of the damned in yet another poorly conceived plan to destroy zim.


_written for tumblr user norman-smsl-guidancecounselor who suggested "Dib capturing Danny Phantom." PROBABLY NOT WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND but i ran w it._

* * *

Dib sat in his room, lights off, floor cleared, and preparations made.

A large pentacle, surrounded by runes, was drawn in white chalk in the middle of his wooden floor. Various runes and inscriptions were drawn on the outer edge.

"It's ready," he whispered.

He carefully lit the candles at each point of the star, counter clockwise. White. Green. Black. Violet. Cyan.

Dib lit an incense stick and settled himself at the base of the pentagram. He pulled an ancient tome into his lap, flipping open to a page in the center of the book.

**SUMMONING RITUAL**

**GHOST KING PARIAH DARK**

Dib grinned. With the king of the dead bound to do his bidding, there was no way Zim could succeed in his mission. He learned from his mistake with Mortos Der Soulstealer- this time the spirit would have to grant Dib's wish before requiring anything in return. Sure, after granting Dib's wish he would have to do anything the demon wanted, _but_ he wouldn't have to do it until _after_ Zim was taken care of.

Dib would do anything to ensure the earth was safe, even if it meant selling his own soul.

He took a deep breath. He could do this. _For Earth!_ he told himself. For Earth. Even if it meant having his soul striped and forced into Pariah's eternal Skeleton army, the earth would be safe, and that was all that would matter. He cleared his throat, and began to read the incantation:

_De la profundoj de la fantomo zono, mi vokas al Vi. _

Dib felt a breeze kick up from the center of the pentacle. He gulped, having second thoughts about the whole thing. The candle flames flickered.

_L-leviĝu, malluma reĝo paria m-morton re-reganto de la morto._

The flames on the candle shot up, impossibly high. This was the point of no return, he could stop now and everything would be fi-

_Leviĝu, malluma reĝo! Leviĝu! Leviĝu!_

The words tore from his throat of their own accord. He didn't want to do this he didn't want to do this he didn't want to die oh god he was only eleven please _no-_

_Mi interŝanĝo mia animo pro via malhela povoj!_

His vision filled with bright green, swirling in the depths of his eyes. For a moment, he could see all. He was afraid. And yet not afraid. The temperature in his room dropped, Dib felt himself lifting slightly off the floor, he felt like he was going to _explode_ he just wanted it to _stop_-

He fell to the ground with a hard thump, his eyes still shining bright green. A voice that was not his own erupted from his throat.

_La kontrakto estas farita!_

The candles suddenly went out, plunging Dib into darkness. He was hyperventilating, air hard to come by. He kept his eyes on the floor, not daring to look at the dark creature he had summoned. The room was lit with an eerie glow; it unnerved Dib more than anything in his life.

He was afraid, so, so afraid. He squinted his eyes shut. Pariah Dark's illustration was a hulking demonic force, the last thing Dib wanted to do was meet it head on. He felt his eyes start to water. This was just _so_ stupid-

"Ummm, hello?" Spoke a nervous voice from the center of the room.

Dib jumped, eyes shooting open as he took in the figure floating in the center of the pentacle.

"Are you ok, kid?" asked the voice.

Whoever Dib had summoned, this was definitely _not_ the ghost king. This was a teen, who couldn't be more than 14 or so. The eerie glow was emanating from him, his hair a snowy white and eyes glowing green.

After a few false starts, Dib found his voice. "W-who are you?" he asked, sounding every bit the terrified grade schooler he was.

"Danny," replied the spirit. He looked around the room, taking it all in. "How did I get here, anyway?" he wondered aloud. He turned back to Dib, electric green eyes locking with the child's. "You're not a ghost, are you?" he asked. Danny didn't think so, but with the way his life went, he could ever be too sure.

"N-no," Dib squeaked. Even though he didn't look like much, the teen radiated power. Dib sat up a little straighter, trying to keep the fear out of his voice. "I, umm," he stammered, "I summoned you… I think…"

Danny raised a dark eyebrow. "Summoned?" He seemed to finally notice the half melted candles and intricate pentacle he was floating in the middle of. "That's.. weird," of all the ways Danny had been captured, accidentally summoned by an 11 year old boy was probably the strangest. "How?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Dib scrambled after the ancient tome, which had somehow ended up about three feet behind him. He flipped it open to Pariah Dark's page and held it up for Danny to see.

"Pariah?" Danny muttered, more to himself than anyone. "What…?" He drifted forward, and carefully reached out to take the book from the kid, only to receive a sharp shock as soon as he tried to breach the circle. "Ow!"

Dib felt himself relax on seeing the spirit was safely contained. "Sorry," he muttered. "Are you the ghost king?"

"I don't think so," replied Danny. The spirit scratched the back of his neck with a gloved hand in what appeared to be a nervous habit. "At least, not last I checked."

Dib wrinkled his nose in confusion. "But that doesn't make any sense," Dib said, his previous terror all but forgotten. "This book _should_ have summoned the king of the dead!" He began frantically flipping through the pages, double checking all the preparations against the ones he made. "I did everything _right_ what gives!"

Danny drifted down, settling cross legged on the floor. "Hey, kid, calm down ok." He started to reach out before remembering the invisible barrier.

Dib didn't even seem to hear him. "Is the contract even still valid? I did _not_ sell my soul for this!"

"Woah, hey, kid, slow down, _breathe!"_ Concern filled Danny's eyes. What was this kid even going on about? Contracts? Selling your soul?

Dib didn't even notice he had started hyperventilating until the spirit told him to breathe. He inhaled slowly, and then exhaled, trying to get his heart rate down.

"You okay?" Danny asked after a moment. Dib nodded, eyes wide behind his glasses. "What's your name?"

"Dib," he responded quietly.

Danny nodded. Now they were getting somewhere. "So, what's this I hear about contracts and selling souls?" His tone was vaguely reprimanding, like an older sibling expressing disappointment.

Dib sighed and explained his plan to summon Pariah Dark to help him capture Zim, all at the low low cost of his own soul. Danny frowned at that, clearly disapproving, but he didn't say anything.

"I did everything right, all the preparations are there, but as you can see, _no_ Pariah Dark!" Dib finished.

"Well, Dib," Danny started, "I may not be the ghost king, but apparently I'm a close enough substitute for your little book to summon instead."

Dib perked up a bit, "So you'll help me destroy Zim?"

"No," Danny immediately shot that idea down. He was not helping an eleven year old commit murder. "Let's make a different deal, ok?" Danny suggested. If what Dib told him was right, then he couldn't leave the circle until they had a completed contract anyway, so what could it hurt?

"Alright," Dib said. "What do you have in mind?"

Danny paused, thinking for a moment, before bringing his hands together and using his powers to make a small crystal out of ice. "Tell you what," he said, holding up the crystal for Dib to see, "You can have this. It's ghost ice; it'll never melt unless I die- well, stop existing."

That _did_ sound promising to Dib. Ghost ice! Think of all the chemical properties it would have! He could study it and find some way to use it against Zim! "What's the catch?" Dib asked. The last thing he wanted was to have to be some spirit's eternal slave over a shard of ice.

"In exchange," Danny grinned, "You have to stay out of trouble. I don't want your soul, that's stupid. But what I do want, is for you to stay safe. No summoning ghosts, no hunting down innocent or harmless creatures or people. Sound fair?"

That was _much_ more appealing than selling his soul. AND he'd still be able to chase after Zim! After all, he was an evil alien menace. Nothing innocent about that! Dib nodded. "Deal."

As soon as the words left his mouth the candles lit up with an eerie green flame. Danny used this as his cue to try stepping out of the pentacle, and was relieved when he didn't receive another shock. He stepped towards Dib, got on one knee, and carefully placed the icy shard in Dib's hand.

He held onto Dib's hand, and looked the boy in the eyes. "Stay out of trouble?" Dib nodded. "And no causing problems?" His tone was somehow playful and serious at the same time. Dib nodded again. Satisfied, Danny stood up and ruffled Dib's hair. "Don't think I won't be checking back in on you from time to time, ok Dib?"

Dib could only nod dumbly in response, still in awe of the teen in front of him. He was letting Dib off easy, Dib knew. That spell was specific to the ghost king, and the only reason it wouldn't summon Pariah Dark would be if there were some changes in management.

Danny winked, and then disappeared in a puff of green smoke. The candles went out for a final time. Dib sat there in the empty room, trying to process what, exactly, just happened.

* * *

_i like to think that danny DOES own Dib's soul now, and dib just doesnt realize it until someone tries to steal his soul, only for them to come up empty, at which point he'll slowly realize with growing horror that he actually did sell his soul for a shard of ice. But danny's an ok guy, so he just keeps it safe cause dib was a tiny baby who didnt kno what he was doing._

_also, if you look to you're left you'll see my "Esperanto As Ghost Speak" and "By defeating Pariah Dark, Danny became the ghost king without actually realizing it" head canons._

_If you want to kno what Dib was chanting, you can plop it into google translate, but basically it was vaguely spooky stuff like "Arise Dark King!" and "I'll give you my soul for stuffs!" and "The contract is done!" so, nothing too important. _


End file.
